Venom
Venom is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel5 and Tencent Pictures. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is the fourth installment of the Amazing Spider-Man film series and the first standalone Venom film. Directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, and Kelly Marcel, it stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom, alongside Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott. In Venom, journalist Brock gains superpowers after being bound to an alien symbiote whose species plans to invade Earth. After he appeared in Spider-Man 3 (2007), Sony unsuccessfully developed several iterations of a film based on Venom. Work began in March 2016 on a version that would start a new shared universe featuring the Marvel characters that the studio possessed film rights to. Sony also intended for Venom to share the world of the MCU's Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), but ultimately distanced the film from the Spider-Man character. In March 2017, Rosenberg and Pinkner were set to write, with Fleischer and Hardy added in May. Principal photography began that October in Atlanta, before moving to New York City and San Francisco. The film was primarily inspired by the comic miniseries Venom: Lethal Protector (1993) and story arc "Planet of the Symbiotes" (1995). Venom was released in the United States on October 5, 2018, and received generally negative reviews from critics for its script and inconsistent tone. However, some praised Hardy's performance and the chemistry between Brock and Venom. The film went on to be an unexpected box office success, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 2018 with over $855 million worldwide and setting several box office records for the month of October. A sequel is in development. Plot While exploring space for new habitable worlds, a probe belonging to the bio-engineering corporation Life Foundation discovers a comet covered in symbiotic lifeforms. The probe returns to Earth with four samples, but one escapes and causes the ship to crash in Malaysia. The Life Foundation recovers the other three and transports them to their research facility in San Francisco, where they discover that the symbiotes cannot survive without oxygen-breathing hosts, which often fatally reject the symbiosis. Investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) lives with his fiancée Anne Weying, an attorney at the law firm representing the Life Foundation. While Weying is sleeping, Brock logs on to her computer and learns about these human trials from a confidential document he finds after accessing her work email. Brock uses the information to publicly confront Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake about the trials, leading to both Brock and Weying being fired from their jobs. Consequently, Weying ends their relationship. Six months later, Drake's symbiosis trials are closer to success, though one of his symbiotes dies due to carelessness. Brock is approached by Dora Skirth, one of Drake's scientists who disagrees with his methods and wants to expose him. She helps Brock break into the research facility to search for evidence, and he learns that an acquaintance of his, a homeless woman named Maria, is one of the test subjects. Brock attempts to rescue Maria, but the symbiote possessing her transfers to his body without him realizing, leaving her dead. Brock escapes and soon begins displaying strange symptoms. He reaches out to Weying for help, and her new boyfriend, Dr. Dan Lewis, discovers the symbiote on examining Brock. Drake exposes Skirth to the remaining captive symbiote, which ultimately dies. This leaves the symbiote inside Brock as the only known surviving specimen. Drake sends mercenaries to retrieve the symbiote from Brock, but it manifests around his body as a monstrous creature that fights off the attackers. It later introduces itself to Brock as Venom, and explains that the comet is searching for planets where the symbiotes can possess and devour the inhabitants. Venom offers to spare Brock if he helps the symbiotes achieve their goal, and Brock comes to enjoy the superhuman attributes that the symbiote imbues him with. Brock breaks into his old workplace to turn in evidence of Drake's crimes, but is surrounded by SWAT officers and is forced to transform to escape. Weying witnesses this transformation and takes Brock back to Lewis's office, where they explain that the symbiote is slowly rotting Brock's internal organs. Brock notes that the symbiote has two weaknesses: high-pitched noises and fire. Although Venom claims that the organ damage can be prevented, Weying uses an MRI machine to help Brock separate from the symbiote. Brock is then captured by Drake's men. Meanwhile, the fourth symbiote, Riot, makes its way from Malaysia to San Francisco by hopping from body to body. It bonds with Drake, who agrees to take Riot in a Life Foundation space probe to collect the rest of the symbiotes and bring them to Earth. Weying reluctantly bonds with Venom so they can free Brock. When Brock and Venom are bonded again, the latter states that he has been convinced to help protect the Earth from his kind through his interactions with Brock, and the pair attempt to stop Riot and Drake with Weying's help. Venom damages the probe as it takes off, causing it to explode and kill both Riot and Drake. Weying believes Brock is no longer bonded to Venom after this, and that Venom also died in the explosion. However, the pair remain secretly bonded and set out to protect San Francisco by killing criminals. Brock also returns to journalism, and in a mid-credits scene he is invited to interview incarcerated serial killer Cletus Kasady, who promises "carnage" when he escapes. Cast *Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom: An investigative journalist who becomes the host of an alien symbiote, Venom, that imbues him with super-human abilities.8910 Director Ruben Fleischer said that unlike a werewolf or Jekyll and Hyde, the relationship between Brock and the symbiote is a "hybrid", with the two characters sharing a body and working together. Hardy was drawn to this duality, and compared the pair to the animated characters Ren and Stimpy. Hardy gave Brock an "aw-shucks American accent" while using a "James Brown lounge lizard"-like voice for Venom,11 that was later "modulated to sound more sinister".12 Hardy called Brock an antihero who would "do whatever he has to" to accomplish a goal.10 *Michelle Williams as Anne Weying: A district attorney and Eddie's ex-fiancée.1314 Williams was excited at the prospect of her character becoming She-Venom in the future as she does in the comics, and Fleischer felt that it would be fun to give fans an Easter egg of this by briefly showing the character host the symbiote during a scene in the film. This was kept a secret until the release of the film, and Flesicher hoped that the positive response to the appearance would lead to more She-Venom in future Venom films or even a standalone She-Venom film.15 *Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake / Riot: A genius inventor and leader of the Life Foundation experimenting on the symbiotes.910 Ahmed explained that Drake is trying to save the future of humanity when he discovers the symbiote,10 with Fleischer adding that Drake has a positive goal but a "moral ambiguity" that leads to him testing his science on other people.15 Drake is eventually bonded to another symbiote known as Riot, which Fleischer described as "a body-hopper".10 *Scott Haze as Roland Treece: Drake's head of security.16 *Reid Scott as Dan Lewis: Anne's new boyfriend, a doctor who tries to help Eddie.17 Additionally, Jenny Slate portrays Life Foundation scientist Dora Skirth,18 Melora Walters portrays Maria, a homeless woman,19 and Chris O'Hara appears as astronaut John Jameson.20 Sam Medina portrays a thug that Venom menacingly confronts.21 Sope Aluko,16 Scott Deckert,22 Marcella Bragio, Michelle Lee, Mac Brandt, Christian Convery23 and Ron Cephas Jones also appear.24 Woody Harrelson appears in the film's mid-credits scene as Cletus Kasady,25 while Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a dog-walker who talks to Brock.26 Category:2018 films Category:IMAX films Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:Sony Pictures Entertainment Films Category:Films set in 2018